Good God, people! It’s so simple. It’s so simple. Shit. And now I start to cry. Not crying. Not crying. Not crying. Ok, here it is, ready? Simple:

If someone else tells you that you suck, they are wrong. Wrong.

And you know what, even sometimes when you tell you that suck, you’re wrong. Wrong. And most importantly, if someone else tells you that you suck, and you internalize it, and then you tell you that you suck, you’re wrong. Wrong.

You don’t suck. None of us suck. And we’re all pretty gawdanged awesome. Just awesome. You know why? ‘Cause God made you. And God made me. And he makes cool creatures. Super, groovy, cool creatures. Really, it’s true.

And if you’re atheist, then you just have to know that it’s true that you’re awesome. And that I’m not full of shit. Because I’m not. I’ve always believed in God, so I can’t really imagine what being Atheist is like, so I’m sorry if I don’t really understand where your power or your passion or whatever comes from – ’cause I just don’t get it. But I’ve had plenty of friends who are atheists. And I love them, every one. And I want you/them to believe/KNOW that you are awesome, too. Okay? Okay, think I’m digging myself in deeper here in trying to be inclusive so I’m gonna shut up. But dammitall – we’re all awesome. And that is that.

Somewhere along the way, I listened to this person or that person or hell, even advertising …or even peer pressure – that said I wasn’t good enough. And I also think I began to believe at some point, that I never would be and so I should just get on with life ‘as it were’, if you will. Like, this car is for sale ‘as is’. And that’s that.

BUT THAT’S NOT TRUE!

And it never was true. Ever. Not once. Not even for a minute.

I’ve been thinking about this stuff/this kind of thing a lot lately and the funny thing is, the Universe is throwing stuff in my path that is validating it again and again and again….

Don’t you love it when life works that way? When you’re tuned in? Awesomely groovy. Supremely.

Whoa!!! I went to my favorite tweets just now to find a couple of tweets that have reinforced this message for me recently…..and guess what I found! A tweet from almost a month ago that totally validates it, too! So the wheels began turning before I even knew it!!! Wow! And I remember when I saw that tweet, it just about made me cry. Hit me in the chest, you know? And here’s that groovy tweet:

The tweet was from Hope Bertram @WindyCitySocial and was then retweeted first by @jylmomIF and then by @DanielleSmithTV.

The other awesome tweet in my favorites was one of my own:

I was sitting outside with the dog the other day and that thought just came to me and I loved it so much. So I’ve actually put it in my Favorite Tweets and tweeted it more than once. And I might go tweet it again right now!

Ok, I’m back. Here’s another:

That tweet is from @JackieHesley and totally resonated with me yesterday!

~~~~Clearly I’ve let this post sit in drafts for too long. I got lost my awesome again and got chicken and thought I shouldn’t post it, but, dammitall – I have to post this!

What led me to actually trying to blog all I’ve been going through emotionally with this *Awesome Stuff* is a totally rockin’, kick butt post from the super cool chick at this place:

The post is called: Waking Up Full of Awesome and it. is. awesome. And it so spoke to me …and a crapload of other people, too, as you can tell by the comments!

And now she’s even added shirts – I so completely want one. No, how silly of me – I want TWO – one for myself and one for my rockin’ awesome daughter! Totally!

Listening to my inner five year old,

GET GLAD!!!

See, life is bringing me down today. I’m not really even going to get into it, because, then I’ll carry on like a durn fool and get even more mopey-weepy-sad. I can sum it up with … NAMS, money, baby. Or baby, money, NAMS. Or no money = no baby and no NAMS. Whatever.

But yesterday, man, I was FLYING. Just totally my happy-go-lucky self. And I did one of those silly Facebook reposts and wound up with some lovely gifts. And the lovely gifts were the words above. People actually said those things – about me! How amazingly super groovy!

So I’m just gonna keep looking at those words and keep myself (get myself!) on track today!

This is what you call a MacBook Post. Or a MacPost, if you’d rather. That’s right, my dad got himself a new computer again. (Man, oh man, I love it when he does that!!!) And he sent me his old one!

So here I am, MacPosting! Ha! When I hear that in my head, it reminds me of the new unfortunate way I say McDonald’s. Did you know that in Alabama, those with a twang, say “mack-donald’s”? And did you know that there are quite a few Alabamian grammatical abuses that have slipped right into my own speech? It’s really quite disheartening. Really. But that’s another post, for another day. Let’s get Mac’ing!

(And the funny thing, when I say ‘MacPost’ etc, it’s almost like I hear this prim and proper grammar general in the back of my head saying, “Now that you’re allowed to say. Go ahead – say it with abandon!” Haha! Okay, really, enough on this distraction!)

So I’ve got this great new computer and I’m just loving it. True, there is quite a bit of new stuff to learn, but, I don’t really have to learn all that stuff to do what I do. I get to the internet – and I’m happy. And then I just learn the new puter stuff as I go. What I’m saying is …that the stuff I don’t know yet about the Mac is not getting in my way of ‘doing my thing’. So I’m free to just take it easy and just learn as I go.

I’ve got to say – I love the way the keyboard feels under my fingertips and sounds as I type. I just love it. It makes me want to just type and type. What a goob.

So it’s obviously not a ‘new’ computer, but, a new-to-me computer. It’s a 2007. And that, coincidentally, is when my Thinkpad is from, too. The Thinkpad is my last hand-me-down from my dad. It’s having some issues, but, I just love that computer.

I took a pic of the two of them together – my two ‘lappies’, only …it’s on the Thinkpad. And it’s in the office and has been put to bed. I’m sitting here with my feet up in my recliner. So therefore, I’ll add the picture tomorrow.

You know what’s funny, though? I keep forgetting that I haven’t asked my dad what he got for his new computer! I keep thinking, ‘Oh my gosh! I wonder what his new one is! I gotta ask him!’ And I get excited thinking about hearing about his latest and greatest machine and all the cool stuff it does, etc ….and then I forget to ask him! Must remedy that.

So this ends one more ‘my parents ROCK‘ post, only this one is more particularly, my dad ROCKS. But heck, mom has her own category here on the blog, so it’s not like she can feel bad! LOL!

P.S. Tomorrow – July 16th – is my Dad’s birthday! Happy Birthday to my dad, who keeps me so technologically happy! Hahaha!

Why you ask? Because….

They bought me a Kindle!!!

and guess what? I am writimg this post from my Kindle!

The ‘accessing the web’ feature is still experimental so it is not the smoothest internet experience in the world, but it is still kind of fun.

And so I wanted to see how it would do for writing a new blog post. It’s stumbly and slow and that is why this post is now coming to an end.

Have a groovy day!

I have but two things to say to you.

Number 1

That’s right, life – come on in here. I will “kick your ask”!!!

And more importantly, enough with the brick walls already. But if you insist on building them right in front of my face, so what! Because I’ve got a secret…

Number 2

All my love,

P.S. And in a classic ‘brick wall in Lisa’s face’ maneuver, it seems this post is jacking with me, too. Don’t care. Just don’t care. Maybe one day, in some distant future, when I’m not sparring with life on a minute-to-minute basis, I shall fix that giant gap of space betwixt the second video and my last line. Today? Eh.

[SUBTITLE: Irritated, Annoyed, and Embarrassed]

Where Can I Go To Be Me?

Have you ever had that thought? Have you ever thought that you are just so freaking tired of not. being. you. that you think you’re going to explode? You keep thinking that with this certain group of people you have to ‘control’ you, keep you in – but with the next group you’ll be okay to just be you. (Like say you’re with you’re in-laws one day, but, the next day you’ll be with your daughter’s t-ball families – or something like that.) And yet, all you discover is that parts of you need to hush there, too….? Or maybe lots of you…..

And you keep thinking there is this magical, comfortable group with whom you can relax and be you …but ….you just can’t seem to find them? Sometimes you almost get there ….or sometimes you’ve experienced it in the past. But then you wonder, ‘Gosh, maybe they were just biting their lip at their disgust/shock/humor at the real you? Dang – maybe even that wasn’t real?’

Irritated, Annoyed, and Embarassed

I’ve spent a great portion of my life having the people around me irritated, annoyed, and embarrassed. And yep, you guessed it – that’s when the Real Lisa is around. I’m loud, I talk to strangers, I’m silly. Gosh – what else? Well – a multitude of things, really. Oh – you know, a big one is – related to that loud thing, I laugh really loudly. Can be hard to watch a movie with me, heh.

And you know what? Most of the time I’m okay with all of this. I’m okay with being different, with carving my own mold, with traveling my own road. It’s my thing. It’s what I do.

I often liken it to Jonathan Livingston Seagull. He had his own route to take, you know? (If you haven’t read it, you simply must. Really.) Though unlike Jonathan, I’m pretty sure I don’t have some big, earth-shattering thing to teach the world – or a crowd – or even you. But I know I’m learning from all of this myself.

The thing is – it’s hard. It’s hard work. It’s hard work being me. Hard work being Lisa Roberson. That’s a funny and a truth all rolled up into one.

Because see, sometimes the continued reactions of people can really get to you.

7th Grade – to Young Married Life – to Now, Living With Teenagers

• Back in the 7th grade, my friends and I would walk home from school by cutting through the houses. Street after street after street. And whenever we would see someone – a man in his garage, a woman working in her garden – I would say, “HI!” And my friends thought that was the funniest and weirdest thing. And then they eventually starting making fun of the way I would say it. They said I said it in some long, drawn-out, nasal sort of way, ‘haaaiiiii’.
• When I was a young married chick, my husband would always joke that he couldn’t even send me in to pay for gas, because, I’d usually strike up a conversation with the clerk. We’d know each other’s life stories by the time I came out of there. And this was often true.
• Multiple pizza places here in town and in the next town over have people standing on the street with signs, sometimes in costumes, and once even playing a guitar – drawing in business, waving at all the cars as they pass. I almost always wave back at these people as I pass by them. Geez louise, their job is to stand on the street and wave at people. Why not be happy and wave back? My kids think this is the most ridiculous thing, though. Sheesh.
• Arriving at McDonald’s, I noticed the poster on the window informed me that I’d missed out on the Tonka truck toys. I mean, I did get one of them, but dagnabbit, I wanted MORE! So anyhoo, we walk in and there are these two cute little guys, maybe around 8 years old, looking at the toy display. And both boys are all painted up for ‘their’ team. (Maybe Auburn?) They had polka dots on their faces and paint on their arms – they looked so cute. And if you are a Happy Meal freak like me, you know you have to squat down to see the boy toys, as they’re always on the bottom. So I asked the boys about their cool paint and squatted down to look at the toys with them. And I asked them if they got any of the Tonka trucks and how many and then I talked to them about the new race car toys that are pretty cool, I must admit. I’m just bummed to miss the Tonka toys. (I know I can get them on eBay and such, it’s just not as much fun that way.) And when I got up and rejoined my family, I was informed by one of my tall teenagers that I am the reason parents tell their little kids not to talk to strangers. Sheesh.
• And I suppose, just being a Happy Meal toy freak makes me kind of freaky. No, I’m not the collector in the collector sense. I like to enjoy them – you know, OUT of the package and such. And then set them on my desk for a while. And then put them on my bookshelf for a while. And some of them hit my ‘little kid toy bucket’ I keep in the coat closet for any darling little kids that come over. Some of them stay under my watchful eye, though, because I love them so much! Ha!

So What’s This All About?

Some of these goofy things I’ve shared with you are just a snapshot of my silly, goofy differentness. And sometimes I just get so frustrated and so lonely and scream in my head,

Where Can I Go To Be Me?

…and you know what? I think right where I’m at is where I’m supposed to be. In this family, with this family – not on some deserted island for someone as crazy as I, I mean…

And it’s all okay.

The thing is, you guys letting me spill all these words here just totally fixed me right back into my proper headspot.

So the fact of the matter is…..it can (and often is) hard to be me, but, I just can’t not be me, so I’m gonna be me.

Much love and GROOVY dreams,



]]> http://www.hippiespelunker.com/2011/02/22/where-can-i-go-to-be-me/feed/ 2 http://www.hippiespelunker.com/2011/02/04/bagel-and-tooth-for-breakfast-part-2/ http://www.hippiespelunker.com/2011/02/04/bagel-and-tooth-for-breakfast-part-2/#comments Fri, 04 Feb 2011 22:56:47 +0000 HippieLisa http://www.hippiespelunker.com/?p=3097

HEY! STOP RIGHT THERE! Have you read Bagel And Tooth For Breakfast, Part 1? No? Well go read it right quick and then come back here!

***************************************

Okay, now are we all on the same page? Groovy! Where was I….? Oh right – I concentrated harder than some Judo Warrior Zen dude on not touching my tooth with my tongue and falling asleep! Ack, that was hard! But I did it. Pretty quickly, really. I am pretty good at that ‘going to sleep’ thing. It’s a talent.

I wake up on Thursday morning at 5am, just like every other day and I’ve completely forgotten about the damn tooth. Hell, it’s 5 in the morning! Who wouldn’t? I do my regular morning routine – turning on the coffee, getting my breakfast, heading back to the recliner to eat breakfast under the cozy, warm blankets and drink my coffee and try to wake up. (Failsafe: Phone has a 6am alarm set, too. Ha!)

And so …I begin to eat …..

“Crunch, Crunch!”

Wait a cotton pickin’ minute! Soft, warm bagels don’t CRUNCH like tortilla freakin’ chips!!!! What in the hell? OH. MY. GAWD. I’m eating my tooth! My tooth broke off – in my mouth – and I’m eating it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GROSS TIMES A HUNDRED FRIGGIN MILLION!!!

And wait – that’s my tooth! Shit, I needed that thing! Well, a chunk of it is GONE now. Just gone. Some spit out, some digesting. Wonder if that makes me a cannibal? Would they call that auto-cannibalism? So yeah, now my hubby and I have matching tooth-missin’ mouths. Real rednecks, I suppose! ha!

And do you know what he said, when I told him about it?

Spasmotronic Lisa: Mark! OMG! I ate my own tooth!

Mark: That’s okay – it’s good for you. It’s calcium.

Yes, he’s the calm to my crazy. Gawd, I hate that man sometimes. I’m like Lucy Ricardo and he’s so damn calm, he’s not even Ricky Ricardo. No, you know who he is? Tom Freaking Landry – that’s who he is!

And now you would like to see the damage, wouldn’t you? Well – I sure did! I can’t see the darn thing in the mirror and it was driving me crazy! Why couldn’t I have eaten a lower tooth? Dang me! In an effort to satiate my insane visual curiosity, I tried and tried and tried to get a picture! I pretty much, for the most part, failed miserably. I give you the one shot that sort of, almost, just about ….shows what is left behind after I had an extreme calcium craving:




You wanna know the most fun part about this whole experience was? Grossing out the kids!

“Hey kids! Guess what! I ate my own tooth!”

Bwahahahahahahaha!!!



]]> http://www.hippiespelunker.com/2011/02/04/bagel-and-tooth-for-breakfast-part-2/feed/ 0 http://www.hippiespelunker.com/2011/02/03/bagel-and-tooth/ http://www.hippiespelunker.com/2011/02/03/bagel-and-tooth/#comments Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:59:56 +0000 HippieLisa http://www.hippiespelunker.com/?p=3083

[Alternate Title: "Eat Your Breakfast, Dear, Not Your Tooth!"]

Dude. Craziness. Absolute crazy sauce. With a side of tooth!

But what about I start at the beginning, eh? Okay. Several months ago, I noticed that my teeth were really, massively, uberly over-sensitive to sugar. I mean, like, YEEEEEOWTCH! sensitive. I thought, now what in the hell has gotten into you, teeth?!

A few months later, upon closer tongue-type inspective processes (no, this is not dirty. get your mind out of the gutter and rejoin us, would you?) I discovered actual HOLES in two of my teeth. HOLES! That I could feel! What the hell? Holes? In my teeth? Are you serious?

Yes, I am. I am quite serious. When I finished conversing with myself and cussing myself, I realized that …hey! Cavities are, in fact, holes.

Whoa! What a shocker!

Okay, okay, calm down! I guess I just never thought of them as such, because, I have so little experience with them! You get that? I’ve hardly had any cavities my whole entire life! And the few times that I did, actually, have a cavity (as a child), the dentist found it so early that I really had no clue about it. I certainly couldn’t feel the damn thing with my tongue.

Two Holes. Two Cavities.

So welcome to midlife, baby. Cavities, menopause, hot flashes, dipping your glasses down to your nose so you can read over them, ad nauseum….

Pssst…don’t forget about all those gray hairs… Oh shut UP, would you?!

Back to my mouth – and my teeth – I found that there is one cavity in an upper left tooth and one cavity in a lower right tooth. Well, that’s a little creepy. But I haven’t had the funds to go to the dentist yet.

Then we come to last night. Popcorn. That’s right, I was eating popcorn. And after all was said and done, as is common for those of us in such advanced age brackets, I was working to get all the ‘left behinds’ out from the various nooks and crannies in which they were hiding in my mouth.

OOPS!

UH OH!

What’s that?

Ah CRAP! I got a piece stuck INSIDE one of the damn cavities! What the hell am I gonna do now?? After some tongue-pickin’ and some tongue-pickin’ I began to hear dentists all over Alabama hollerin’ at me to “Just leave the damn thing alone! You’re making it worse!!” And I decided to sleep on it and hope and pray it worked its way out before morning. And it was a HERCULEAN effort to get my tongue to stop going back over there and messing with it, I will tell you!

****Note**** I took a break from writing this to eat dinner and WHOA! Dinner just did not sit well with me! I’m going to have to go lie down. You will have to stay tuned to see what happened in the “Breakfast Tooth Saga”!



P.S. So what do you think happened next in this super freaky saga? Leave a comment and let me know what YOU think!

]]> http://www.hippiespelunker.com/2011/02/03/bagel-and-tooth/feed/ 0 http://www.hippiespelunker.com/2010/06/14/surprise-40th-birthday-party/ http://www.hippiespelunker.com/2010/06/14/surprise-40th-birthday-party/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:44:44 +0000 HippieLisa http://www.hippiespelunker.com/?p=2624

My awesome family gave me the very best surprise party yesterday for my 40th birthday!! They completely threw me for a loop and caught me by surprise, even though my silly husband had managed to spill the beans a week ago! I was so happy that I was surprised anyway!

Oh man, oh man – I’m sneezing my friggin’ head off right now – I’m going to have to finish telling you all about it later on! I’ll be back!!!! Promise!!

]]> http://www.hippiespelunker.com/2010/06/14/surprise-40th-birthday-party/feed/ 1 http://www.hippiespelunker.com/2010/06/11/groovy-dallas-texas/ http://www.hippiespelunker.com/2010/06/11/groovy-dallas-texas/#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:26:15 +0000 HippieLisa http://www.hippiespelunker.com/?p=2602

Why in the heck does this goofy, spelunking (not!) hippie miss Dallas, Texas so darned much???

My Family!
First, and most importantly – of course, my family! Duh! I lived in Dallas from the time I was eight months old until I was thirty-six years old. And my folks and one of my brother’s and a few cousins still live there. I love, love, love my family and I miss them like crazy! So they are definitely the number one, and MAIN, reason I miss Dallas and go back every summer. And more, when I can help it…. Boy, I sure would love to get to go to Open Camp in August. I’m going to try to swing it, but, I’m already going to another conference in HOTlanta that month, so it’s not totally sounding do-able. Wah. But that wouldn’t really count as visiting family, as I wouldn’t get too much time with them if I did that. I could maybe get a day or so before and/or after the conference. Anyhoo…yeah, the TOP reason I go home is my family!




Other Various Humans!
There are also lots of other peeps we like to see when we are back home. There are old neighbors, old classmates of the kids, and just a myriad of other people that we like to try and see when we are there! Of course, I want to hook up with some of my Punkymoms, as I joined that group in Dallas and miss those girls like crazy!!! There are internet buds that I would love to share a meal with, like Iris Rounds and Mark Mason, both of whom I know from Self Starters Weekly Tips Elite Forum. I would absolutely love to see John and Holly Pozadzides, because, they just ROCK!!! And really just all kinds of people – many of whom get skipped, because, there just isn’t enough time! But if you think about all the different areas of your life – neighbors, friends, classmates, coworkers, etc, etc, etc – for THIRTY-SIX years!!! That’s a lot of people you wanna go around and visit, you know???
Here I am with John and Holly at Wordcamp Dallas last summer.

Sammie and two sweet little Punky friends (Skyler and Raven) four years ago at our going away party before we moved to Alabama!



More To Come!
There are lots more reasons I like to go back home to Dallas. Three of them are Veggie Garden, getting threaded, and Slurpees. I’ll tell you all about those in a day or so!!!



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